Friday, 17 April 2015

Every month at the moment I am flying to Gisborne to work on a project with some beekeepers. They are worried that some plants are being sprayed with chemicals (insecticides) which are killing their bees. This doesn't happen immediately but seems to make the bees sick for a while first.

This is my science team. When scientists try and solve a problem, they find it easier to work with other people rather than just working by themselves. This lets them bounce ideas off each other. They are very good at brainstorming lots of ideas, some sensible and some crazy. They are also really good at sorting through the ideas and guessing which ones might work. They talk about why they think a thing might or might not work and let everyone share their ideas. They don't get annoyed when someone disagrees, they just ask them to explain their thinking.

Monday, 16 March 2015

What is physics?
It is a type of science that looks at forces and interactions.
The physics4kids website tells us that "everything in the universe has an effect on every other thing. Physicists study those effects.
Physics is a science that relates to all other sciences: Chemistry, Biology, Geology, Astronomy, Meteorology and Engineering.
Everything on Earth, everything in the solar system, the galaxy and the universe moves and interacts and forces play a big part in that.

Motion, heat, electricity and light are all studied by physicists.

You can measure sound waves using an oscilloscope.

When you spin the wheel there are forces which act on it to get it moving or to change its movement. What do you think these forces might be?

There is a swing in the physics lab. The scientists look at the way it moves when you are swinging. They look to see if there are any patterns.

Take a look at the video clip on work from NASA.http://www.physics4kids.com/